Oklahoma House Candidate to Deliver GOP Address

Markwayne Mullin, the GOP candidate running to fill the open seat in Oklahoma’s 2nd district, will deliver the weekly Republican address Saturday.

The businessman and rancher was formally tapped today by Speaker John Boehner (Ohio). He’s the second Congressional hopeful Boehner has selected to give the weekly address this cycle — the other in late September was Vernon Parker, the candidate in Arizona’s 9th district.

“Small businesses continue to struggle in this weak economy, and all the taxing, spending and red tape coming from the Obama administration is only making things worse,” Boehner said in a statement. “Markwayne Mullin has run a business and created jobs, and he understands the need to shut down the jobs-destroying red tape factory in Washington, D.C.”

“If elected,” Boehner continued, “I know he’ll be a strong voice in the House for a smaller, more accountable and less costly government.”

Mullin, who this week secured endorsements from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and the National Federation of Independent Business, also released a statement this evening expressing his enthusiasm for the opportunity to deliver the weekly Republican address.

“I’m honored to deliver this week’s Republican address, and will use this time to discuss how running a small business drives my campaign for solutions to restrain the government bureaucracy and promote long-term economic growth,” he said.

Mullin is looking to capture the seat in a district that has traditionally elected Democrats on the local level. Voters gave outgoing four-term moderate Democratic Rep. Dan Boren at least 56 percent in each of his elections.

The district, though, has recently favored Republican candidates on a national stage: Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) won the current district — which did not change much after redistricting — with 66 percent of the vote in the 2008 presidential contest.

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Rob Wallace, the Democratic candidate, boasts the political and ideological credentials of a model Oklahoma Democrat, but Roll Call has rated the race as Likely Republican.